Fleet vehicle management systems and methods

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments of a system for communicating vehicle information can provide equipment for use inside a fleet vehicle to facilitate prompt and efficient transfer of vehicle and driver information. In particular embodiments, the system may include an electronic onboard recorder mountable in a vehicle and a mobile communication device that is configured to wireless communication with the electronic onboard recorder.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/174,331 filed on Jun. 30, 2011, the contents of this priorapplication being fully incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This specification relates to transportation fleet management, such as asystem for fleet vehicle management that records particular vehicle anddriver information for subsequent communication, for example, to aremote device.

BACKGROUND

A number of commercial companies and government institutions maintain afleet of vehicles and have an interest in keeping track of the vehiclesand shipments, as well as the performance and well-being of theirdrivers. These parties frequently equip their fleet vehicles withdevices configured to track the vehicles' geographic locations, speeds,headings, cargo temperature, engine performance parameters, and otherdata. Such information is used, for example, to maintain the vehicles,estimate delivery times, provide warning of possible damage to cargo,and to evaluate driver performance.

Some regulatory agencies also have an interest in fleet vehicleinformation, such as the number of miles a delivery vehicle hastravelled since its last safety inspection, or the number of hours adriver has been on duty since he or she last rested. In some cases, thisinformation was traditionally recorded on paper (e.g., driver log books)or in proprietary electronic formats. In either case, such informationcan be inconvenient to access or share with regulatory inspectors orother third parties.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of a system for communicating fleet vehicle informationcan provide equipment for use inside a fleet vehicle to facilitateprompt and efficient transfer of vehicle and driver information. Inparticular embodiments, the system can generate electronic reports thatprovide driver identification information, hours of service information,and (optionally) vehicle-related information, and such electronicreports can be readily communicated to a remote computer device in anumber of different manners. For example, in some embodiments, thesystem may include an electronic onboard recorder mountable in a vehicleand a mobile communication device (e.g., a cellular phone in particularembodiments) that is configured to provide short-range, two-way wirelesscommunication (e.g., Bluetooth communication in particular embodiments)with the electronic onboard recorder. In such circumstances, a driver orother system user can operate the system to share a driver summaryelectronic report or other information by exporting the electronicinformation via a data port (e.g., a USB port in particular embodiments)of the electronic onboard recorder, by transferring the electronicinformation via a cellular link established by the mobile communicationdevice, or both.

Particular embodiments described herein may include a system forcommunicating fleet vehicle information including an electronic onboardrecorder unit and a portable wireless display unit. The electroniconboard recorder unit may be configured to mount inside a vehicle andprovide a wired connection to the vehicle for gathering data duringoperation of the vehicle. The electronic onboard recorder unit can befree of any user interface display and may include a short-rangewireless communication device to wirelessly communicate vehicle usageinformation to a separate device, such as the portable wireless displayunit. The electronic onboard recorder unit may also include a dataconnection port (e.g., a USB port in some embodiments) configured toremovably receive a data cable of a remote computer device. The portablewireless display unit may include a short-range wireless communicationdevice to wirelessly communicate with the electronic onboard recorderunit when the electronic onboard recorder unit and the portable wirelessdisplay unit are both positioned inside the vehicle. Also, the portablewireless display unit may include a cellular communication deviceconfigured to provide a cellular communication link with a remotesystem. Furthermore, the portable wireless display unit may include auser interface comprising a display device. Also, the portable wirelessdisplay unit may include a computer-readable memory module to store adriver summary electronic report, which may be generated by the portablewireless display unit in response to wirelessly receiving the vehicleusage information from the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted tothe vehicle. The driver summary electronic report may includeidentification information for a driver and hours or service informationfor the driver. In response to input on the user interface of theportable wireless display unit indicative of a request to export thedriver summary electronic report from the electronic onboard recorderunit mounted to the vehicle, the portable wireless display unit may beconfigured to wirelessly transfer the driver summary electronic reportto the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted to the vehicle forexporting the driver summary electronic report via the data connectionport of the electronic onboard recorder unit to the remote computerdevice.

In some embodiments, a system for communicating fleet vehicleinformation may include an electronic onboard recorder unit configuredto mount inside a vehicle and provide a wired connection to the vehiclefor gathering data during operation of the vehicle. The electroniconboard recorder unit may be free of a user interface display. Also, theelectronic onboard recorder unit may include a short-range wirelesscommunication device to wirelessly communicate vehicle usage informationto a second device when the second device is positioned inside thevehicle. The system may also include a portable wireless display unithaving a short-range wireless communication device to wirelesslycommunicate with the electronic onboard recorder unit when theelectronic onboard recorder unit and the portable wireless display unitare both positioned inside the vehicle. The portable wireless displayunit may also include a long-range communication device configured toprovide a cellular or satellite communication link with a remote system.The portable wireless display unit may further include a user interfacecomprising a display device that displays driver hours of serviceinformation in response to wirelessly receiving the vehicle usageinformation from the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted to thevehicle. The electronic onboard recorder unit and the portable wirelessdisplay unit may provide two-way wireless communication such that theportable wireless display unit wirelessly receives vehicle usageinformation from the electronic onboard recorder unit and the electroniconboard recorder unit wirelessly receives driver identificationinformation from the portable wireless display unit.

In certain embodiments, a system for communicating fleet vehicleinformation may include an electronic onboard recorder unit configuredto mount inside a vehicle and provide a wired connection to the vehiclefor gathering data during operation of the vehicle. The electroniconboard recorder unit may include a short-range wireless communicationdevice to wirelessly communicate vehicle usage information to a seconddevice when the second device is positioned inside the vehicle. Theelectronic onboard recorder unit may also include a USB connection portconfigured to removably receive a USB data cable of a remote computerdevice. The system may further include a portable wireless display unitcomprising a short-range wireless communication device to wirelesslycommunicate with the electronic onboard recorder unit when theelectronic onboard recorder unit and the portable wireless display unitare both positioned inside the vehicle. The portable wireless displayunit may also include a long-range communication device configured toprovide a cellular or satellite communication link with a remote system.The portable wireless display unit may also include a user interfaceincluding a display device, and a computer-readable memory module tostore a driver summary electronic report including identificationinformation for a driver and hours or service information for thedriver. The electronic onboard recorder unit may output the driversummary electronic report via the USB connection port in response touser input on the user interface of the portable wireless display unit.Also, the portable wireless display unit may output the driver summaryelectronic report via the cellular or satellite communication link tothe remote system.

Some embodiments described herein may include a computer-implementedmethod for providing a driver summary electronic report. The method mayinclude wirelessly communicating vehicle usage information from anelectronic onboard recorder unit mounted to a vehicle to a portablewireless display unit. The electronic onboard recorder unit may have awired connection to the vehicle. The method may also include wirelesslyreceiving, at the electronic onboard recorder unit, a driver summaryelectronic report from the portable wireless display unit, the driversummary electronic report having been generated by the portable wirelessdisplay unit in response to the electronic onboard recorder unitwirelessly communicating the vehicle usage information. The driversummary electronic report may include identification information for adriver and hours or service information for the driver. The method mayfurther include removably receiving a USB data cable in a USB connectionport of the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted to the vehicle.Also, the method may include, in response to a user request input to theportable wireless display unit, transferring the driver summaryelectronic report from the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted tothe vehicle via the data cable to a remote computer device.

In further embodiments, a computer-implemented method for providing adriver summary electronic report may include wirelessly receiving, at aportable wireless display unit, vehicle usage information from anelectronic onboard recorder unit mounted to a vehicle and having a wiredconnection to the vehicle. The method may also include storing a driversummary electronic report in a computer-readable memory module of theportable wireless display unit configured to wirelessly communicate withthe electronic onboard recorder unit mounted to the vehicle. The driversummary electronic report may be generated by the portable wirelessdisplay unit in response to wirelessly receiving the vehicle usageinformation from the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted to thevehicle. The driver summary electronic report may include identificationinformation for a driver and hours or service information for thedriver. The method may also include receiving user input on the portablewireless display unit indicative of a request to export the driversummary electronic report from the electronic onboard recorder unitmounted to the vehicle. The method may further include wirelesslytransferring the driver summary electronic report from the portablewireless display unit to the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted tothe vehicle for exporting the driver summary electronic report via aremovable data cable to a remote computer device.

Some embodiments of a computer-implemented method for providing a driversummary electronic report may include wirelessly communicating vehicleusage information from an electronic onboard recorder unit mounted to avehicle to a portable wireless display unit. The electronic onboardrecorder unit may have a wired connection to the vehicle. The method mayalso include storing a driver summary electronic report in acomputer-readable memory module of the portable wireless display unitconfigured to wirelessly communicate with the electronic onboardrecorder unit mounted to the vehicle. The driver summary electronicreport may generated by the portable wireless display unit in responseto wirelessly receiving the vehicle usage information from theelectronic onboard recorder unit mounted to the vehicle. The driversummary electronic report may include identification information for adriver and hours or service information for the driver. The method mayfurther include receiving user input on the portable wireless displayunit indicative of a request to export the driver summary electronicreport from the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted to the vehicle.The method may also include wirelessly transferring the driver summaryelectronic report from the portable wireless display unit to theelectronic onboard recorder unit mounted to the vehicle. The method mayfurther include removably receiving a data cable in a corresponding portof the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted to the vehicle. Also,the method may include transferring the driver summary electronic reportfrom the electronic onboard recorder unit mounted to the vehicle via thedata cable to a remote computer device.

The systems and techniques described here may provide one or more of thefollowing benefits. First, a system for communicating vehicleinformation can provide an electronic onboard recorder mountable in avehicle and a mobile communication device (e.g., a cellular phone inparticular embodiments) that is configured to provide wirelesscommunication with the electronic onboard recorder. As such, system caninclude a plurality of separately housed devices that are eachconfigured to output electronic reports in different manners.

Second, in some embodiments of the system, the electronic onboardrecorder can be equipped with an external data port (e.g., a USBconnection port) so that the electronic onboard recorder can outputdriver summary electronic reports or other electronic files via ahardwired connection to a remote computer. For example, a vehicleinspector can carry a portable computer device or portable storagedevice, and the driver or the inspector can plug the inspector's deviceinto the data port of the electronic onboard recorder so as to retrievea driver summary electronic report or other electronic files via ahardwired connection to the unit mounted in the vehicle.

Third, particular embodiments of the system can provide a mobilecommunication device (e.g., a cellular phone in particular embodiments)that provides short-range, two wireless communication with an electroniconboard recorder mounted in a vehicle. In such circumstances, not onlydoes the electronic onboard recorder wirelessly communicate informationto the mobile communication device, but the mobile communication devicecan also transmit information back to the electronic onboard recorder.Therefore, one or more electronic files containing vehicle or driverinformation can be synced between the two separate devices for purposesof outputting the files in a number of optional manners.

Fourth, in some embodiments, the electronic onboard recorder mounted inthe vehicle can be constructed as a displayless unit that is free of anyuser interface display. Such a construction can reduce the size of theelectronic onboard recorder, provide for simplified installation (and,optionally, concealed installation inside the vehicle), and reduce themanufacturing complexities for the electronic onboard recorder. In thesecircumstances, the user interface of the mobile communication device canserve as the user interface for the system (including the electroniconboard recorder). As such, the mobile communication device can beseparately housed from its corresponding electronic onboard recorder sothat the mobile communication device can be carried by the vehicledriver or other user outside of the vehicle while the electronic onboardrecorder remains mounted inside the vehicle. Moreover, because themobile communication device is portable relative to its respectiveelectronic onboard recorder unit, the driver can view or input vehicleor driver information on the user interface of the mobile communicationdevice both when the driver is seated inside the vehicle and when thedriver positioned outside the vehicle in proximity thereto (e.g., whileinspecting the exterior of the vehicle, refueling, or sitting in anearby building).

Fifth, in some embodiments of the system, the electronic onboardrecorder can be configured to detect the particular type ofcommunications protocol employed by vehicle, and automatically adapt tothe detected protocol in order to communicate with an engine controlmodule of the vehicle. As such, the electronic onboard recorder can beinstalled in any one of a number of different types of vehicles, and theinstaller's act of connecting the electronic onboard recorder to thevehicle's engine control module will prompt the control circuitry of theelectronic onboard recorder to automatically recognize the type ofvehicle in which it is installed.

Sixth, in some embodiments of the system, the electronic onboardrecorder can house one or more accelerometers therein so as to detectparticular types of vehicle movement, such as hard brakes, acceleration,and lane changes. Instances of this type of vehicle movement can berecorded by the electronic onboard recorder can communicated to acontrol center (e.g., via the mobile communication device) for purposesof safety monitoring by a fleet manager or other system user.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features andadvantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and fromthe claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram that shows an example of a fleet management systemin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagram that shows an example of a system for communicatingfleet vehicle information, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram that shows the system of FIG. 2 in combination withat least one external storage device, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate examples of a user interface for a mobilecommunication device of a system for communicating fleet vehicleinformation, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is flow chart that shows an example process for communicating anelectronic report or other data from an electronic onboard recorder unitto an external storage device, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is flow chart that shows an example process for using a mobilecommunication device to transmit an electronic report or other data to afleet management control center.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of computing devices that may be used to implementthe systems and methods described herein, in accordance with someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, some embodiments of a fleet management system 100can include a collection of vehicles 102 a-102 c equipped withelectronic onboard recorder units 106 a-c and accompanying mobilecommunication devices 112 a-c, which can be used for communication witha control center 104. In particular embodiments, the control center 104represents a physical or conceptual location in which information aboutthe vehicles 102 a-102 c (and the vehicles drivers) is collected andused. For example, the control center 104 may access informationgathered from the vehicles 102 a-102 c in order to identify and locatethe vehicle 102 a-102 c carrying particular shipments, and estimate theremaining time until delivery. Also, the control center 104 can collectthe information about the vehicles 102 a-102 c so as to monitor thelocation, speed, heading, and planned route of particular vehicles andtheir respective shipments. Moreover, the control center 104 can collectthe information about the drivers of the vehicles 102 a-102 c so as tomonitor the duty status, hours of service, and other characteristics ofeach driver.

At least some of aforementioned vehicle information is gathered by theelectronic onboard recorder units 106 a-106 c mounted in each of thevehicles 102 a-102 c, respectively. The electronic onboard recorderunits 106 a-106 c are electronic devices that collect and recordinformation about the vehicles' 102 a-102 c, location, speed,operational parameters, acceleration, operating hours, and othervehicle-related information. For example, the electronic onboardrecorder units 106 a-106 c can receive location information in the formof global positioning system (GPS) signals 108 from at least one GPSsatellite 109 to determine the locations of their respective vehicles102 a-102 c. Also, the electronic onboard recorder units 106 a-106 c canbe configured to electrically connect with an engine control module(refer to FIG. 2) so as to receive vehicle operation information (e.g.,speed, operational parameters, acceleration/braking data, fuel usage,and the like). As described below in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3, eachelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a-106 c can be equipped with a dataconnection port (e.g., a USB port in this embodiment) for purposes ofreadily exporting driver information electronic reports or otherelectronic data to remote devices of regulatory inspectors or otherapproved parties.

Still referring to FIG. 1, each of the electronic onboard recorder units106 a-106 c can communicate with a corresponding mobile communicationdevice 112 a-112 c, which may also be positioned inside or in closeproximity to the vehicle 102 a-c. In particular, each of the mobilecommunication device 112 a-112 c can be portably carried by the driverof a vehicle 102 a-c, respectively, so that the mobile communicationdevice 112 a-112 c is configured to wirelessly communicate with theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a-106 c, respectively, mounted inthe vehicle. For example, during use of the fleet vehicle 102 a, theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a and the mobile communicationdevice 112 a can wirelessly communicate while both the unit 106 a andthe device 112 a are positioned inside the vehicle 102 a. In suchcircumstances, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a and thecorresponding mobile communication device 112 a can operate as a system110 a (FIGS. 2-3) for communicating information about the vehicle 102 aand its driver.

In this embodiment, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 acommunicates with a mobile communication device 112 a over a wirelesslink 114 a and provides a user interface for the electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a. Similarly, the electronic onboard recorder units106 b and 106 c communicate with a mobile communication device 112 b and112 c, respectively, over a wireless link 114 b and 114 c. In thoseembodiments in which the mobile communication device 112 a-c providesthe user interface for the respective electronic onboard recorder unit106 a-c, each electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a-c can beconstructed as a displayless unit that is free of any user interfacedisplay mounted thereto, thereby reducing the size of the electroniconboard recorder unit 106 a (e.g., providing for simplified installationand, optionally, concealed installation inside the vehicle) and reducingthe manufacturing complexities for the electronic onboard recorder unit106 a. In some implementations, the mobile communications devices 112a-112 c can be cellular telephones, satellite telephones, portablecomputers, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), oranother mobile computing device that is programmed to wirelesslycommunicate with one or more of the electronic onboard recorder units106 a-c. As such, each mobile communication device 112 a-112 c can beseparately housed from its corresponding electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a-106 c so that the mobile communication device 112 a-112 c canbe carried by the vehicle driver or other user outside of the vehicle102 a-102 c while the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a-106 cremains mounted inside the vehicle 102 a-102 c. In some implementations,the wireless links 114 a-114 c can be short-range wirelesscommunications links, such as Bluetooth, wireless Ethernet (WiFi),ZigBee, near-field communications (NFC), infrared (IrDA), or any othersuitable short-range wireless communication link. In such circumstances,each mobile communication device 112 a-112 c can display information inresponse to the vehicle data wirelessly communicated from the respectiveelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a-106 c while both items arepositioned inside the vehicle 102 a-c (e.g., while the electroniconboard recorder unit 106 a is mounted inside the vehicle 102 a and themobile communication device 112 a is carried by the driver in thevehicle or otherwise temporarily placed inside the vehicle cabin).Moreover, because each mobile communication device 112 a-112 c isportable relative to its respective electronic onboard recorder unit 106a-106 c, the driver or other human user can view or inputvehicle-related information on the user interface of the mobilecommunication device 112 a-112 c both when the driver is seated insidethe vehicle and when the driver positioned outside the vehicle inproximity thereto (e.g., while inspecting the exterior of the vehicle,refueling, or sitting in a nearby building).

In use, each wireless link 114 a-114 c transmits information between therespective electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a-106 c and itscorresponding mobile communication device 112 a-112 c. In someimplementations, the electronic onboard recorder units 106 a-106 c donot provide their own user interfaces (e.g., displays, input buttons),but instead wirelessly communicate bi-directionally with the mobilecommunication devices 112 a-112 c to provide user interface functionsfor the overall mobile system 110 a (refer, for example, to FIG. 2). Forexample, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a may wirelesslycommunicate vehicle usage information so that the mobile communicationdevice 112 a can calculate and display hours of service information onthe display screen carried by the driver. In another example, theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a may determine the location of thevehicle 102 a and wirelessly communicate the location information to themobile communication device 112 a so that the mobile communicationdevice 112 a can display the location on a map. Example uses of themobile communication devices 112 a-112 c as user interfaces for theelectronic onboard recorder units 106 a-106 c are discussed further inthe descriptions of FIGS. 2-5.

In use, the mobile communication devices 112 a-112 c may communicatewith at least one transceiver 122 over a collection of wireless links120 a-120 c. In some implementations, the wireless links 120 a-120 c canbe long-range wireless links, such as cellular communication links,satellite communication links, WiMAX links, long term evolution (LTE)links, or any other suitable form of long-range wireless link that cancommunicate data between the mobile communication devices 112 a-112 cand the transceiver 122. In this particular embodiment, the transceiver122 may be in the form a cellular antenna tower that is configured toprovide cellular data links to a variety of cellular telephones within aparticular geographic range. The transceiver 122 may be communicativelyconnected to a base station 124. In some implementations, the basestation 122 can be a cellular data communications provider, satellitecommunications provider, or any other appropriate wirelesscommunications provider. Still referring to FIG. 1, a network 130communicatively connects the base station 124 with the control center104. In some embodiments, the network 130 may include the Internet orother public or private data networks. In alternative embodiments inwhich one or more of mobile communication devices 112 a-112 c comprise asatellite phone, at least one of the long-range wireless links 120 a-120c can be a satellite communication link and the transceiver 122 may bein the form a satellite communication apparatus.

A mentioned previously, the control center 104 exchanges informationwith the electronic onboard recorder units 106 a-106 c (via the mobilecommunication devices 112 a-112 c) to monitor the status of the vehicles102 a-102 c. For example, the control center 104 may track the locationsof the vehicles 102 a-102 c in order to estimate delivery or pickuptimes, or to coordinate the dispatch of the vehicles 102 a-102 c to pickup a delivery (e.g., by dispatching the vehicle 102 a-102 c closest tothe pickup location). In another example, the control center 104 maymonitor the vehicles' 102 a-102 c operating parameters to coordinaterepairs or maintenance (e.g., monitor temperatures of refrigeratedcargo, monitor engine warning signals).

Another form of information generated by the system for communication tothe control center 4 are driver duty logs, which may include dataindicative of the hours of service when the driver is on duty in aparticular day. In some implementations, the driver duty logs can beautomatically converted into electronic record of duty files (includinghours of service records, driver identification information, etc.) thatare readily exportable via the USB port of the electronic onboardrecorder units 106 a-106 c (FIG. 3) or via the wireless link 120 a-c ofthe mobile communication devices 112 a-112 c (FIG. 2).

For example, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a can collect thevehicle usage information over a period of time when a particular driveris using the vehicle 102 a, and the electronic onboard recorder unit 106a can periodically transfer this vehicle usage information to thecorresponding mobile communication device 112 a linked thereto via theBluetooth connection 114 a. The mobile communication device 112 a canaccess the vehicle usage information along with other driver-specificinformation (e.g., driver identification information and the like) so asto generate the electronic record of duty file stored on the memory ofthe mobile communication device 112 a. From there, the electronic recordof duty file can be wirelessly communicated via the cellular link 120 ato the control center 104, wirelessly communicated via the Bluetoothlink 114 a to the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a for subsequentexporting via the USB port to a remote device (refer to FIG. 3), orboth. Regarding the process for exporting via the USB port, theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a can be configured to output theelectronic record of duty file directly to a temporarily connectedexternal computer device 150 (e.g., a notebook computer) or a portablestorage device 152 (e.g., a USB thumb drive, a portable hard drive)provided by a vehicle inspector 154 (e.g., a law enforcement official, aregulatory inspector, or the like). In such circumstances, the vehicleinspector 154 can conveniently plug the external computer device 150 orthe portable storage device 152 into the USB port provided by theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a to facilitate a transfer of therequested data from the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a. Thus,the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a and the mobile communicationdevice 112 are two separately housed instruments that act together as asystem to generate and communicate the electronic record of duty fileassociated with the driver.

Referring now to FIG. 2, in some embodiments of the system 110 a forcommunicating fleet vehicle information, the electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a is mounted in the vehicle 102 a so that the electroniconboard recorder unit 106 a is electrically connected to the vehicle 102a. In particular, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a can includeas input cable (e.g., data bus 204) that electrically connects to amating connector of an engine control module (ECM) 202 of the vehicle102 a. In some implementations, the ECM 202 is an electronic device thatmonitors and/or controls various functions of the vehicle 102 a. Forexample, the ECM 202 can monitor vehicle speed, engine speed, coolanttemperature, vehicle mileage, cargo environmental parameters, and anyother appropriate vehicle parameters. In this embodiment, the electroniconboard recorder unit 106 a is configured to mount directly to a dashcomponent inside the cabin of the vehicle 102 a. As previouslydescribed, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a can be adisplayless unit that is without any user interface display screen,thereby reducing the size of the unit 106 a and facilitating asimplified installation process. The user interface 208 of the mobilecommunication device 112 a can be used as a portable user interface forthe electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a when the unit 106 acommunicates with the mobile communication device 112 a over theBluetooth connection 114 a. Moreover, in some implementations, theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a may include a single printedcircuit board upon which all of its electronic circuitry is mounted,thereby further reducing the size and manufacturing complexities of theunit 106 a. It should be understood from the description herein that theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a is depicted as an enlarged sizein FIGS. 2-33 for purposes of illustration only, and that the actualsize of the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a may be significantlysmaller. For example, in some embodiments, the electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a has a maximum length of about 8 inches, a maximumwidth of about 6.5 inches, and a maximum height of about 1.5 inches.

In some implementations, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a candetect the particular type of communications protocol employed by theECM 202, and automatically adapt to the detected protocol in order tocommunicate with the ECM 202. In these circumstances, the electroniconboard recorder 106 a can be installed in any one of a number ofdifferent types of vehicles (e.g., a class 8 large truck, a class 1 car,or the like), and the installer's act of connecting the cable 204 to thevehicle's ECM 202 will prompt the control circuitry of the electroniconboard recorder unit 106 a to automatically recognize the type ofvehicle in which it is installed. As such, some embodiments of theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a need not be manufactured orpreprogrammed in a vehicle-specific manner. For example, in someimplementations, the ECM 202 can implement a controller area network(CAN), a local interconnect network (LIN), a vehicle area network (VAN),FlexRay, J1939, ISO-11783, domestic digital bus (D2B), IDB-1394,SmartWireX, MOST, J1850, ISO-9141, J1708, J1587, SPI, IIC, or any othercommunications protocol for communicating with the electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a through the data bus 204. In such circumstances, theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a may detect the combination and/orsignal levels implemented over the data bus 204, may analyze incomingdata traffic, and/or may query the ECM 202 using various protocols andreceive corresponding responses in order to determine the protocol inuse by the ECM 202. In some implementations, the connector on the end ofthe data bus cable 204 (e.g., the end which connects to the ECM 202) caninclude a connection jack having more data lines than are provided bythe ECM 202. Multiple converters may be provided to adapt a subset ofthe port's data lines to a variety of configurations of the data bus204. For example, passenger cars and other “class 1” vehicles mayprovide a connector that is compliant with the on-board diagnostic (OBD)II specification, while large trucks and other “class 8” vehicles mayprovide a connector that is compliant with the heavy-duty OBD (HDOBD)specification. In such examples, one converter may be provided to adaptthe port to connect to OBDII data buses, and another may be provided toadapt the port to connect to HDOBD data buses. The electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a may sense the configuration of an attached converterto determine the appropriate protocol to use for communication with theECM 202.

In some embodiments, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a can beconfigured to simultaneously communicate via multiple protocols at once.For instance, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a can beconfigured to communicate via the J1939 and J1708 protocols at the sametime. This feature can be useful, for example, for a vehicle in whichthe ECM 202 communicates in two different protocols (e.g., communicatessome information (braking information) on one engine bus and otherinformation (e.g., fuel information) on another engine bus. Also, thisfeature can be useful when a single vehicle includes multiple ECMs 202that employed different protocols. Thus, the electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a can to gather some vehicle information appears on one enginebus, and to gather other vehicle information on another engine bus. Inone implementation, the cable 204 can have a first set of wires that areconfigured to connect with a first ECM (or a first engine bus of anindividual ECM) while a second set of wires are configured to mate witha second ECM (or a second engine bus of the individual ECM).

Furthermore, in particular embodiments in which the ECM 202 or enginebus 204 may not provide a direct odometer reading, the electroniconboard recorder unit 106 a can be configured to interpret other engineparameters to create an “effective odometer reading” of the vehicle 102a starting at the point when the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 awas installed in the vehicle 102 a. For example, the electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a can receive data indicative of vehicle speed (e.g.,used in combination with an internal clock or timer of the electroniconboard recorder unit 106 a) or data indicative of distance increments(e.g., distance pulses every 0.1 miles) so as to generate “effectiveodometer reading” for the vehicle 102 a. Accordingly, the system 110 acan be used to comply with distance and odometer reporting requirements(via an electronic report) even if the ECM 202 or engine bus 204 of thevehicle 102 a does not directly provide odometer readings. In addition,the system 110 a can prompt an installer or other user to manually inputthe vehicle odometer reading (as shown on the dash of the vehicle) whenthe electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a is initially installed sothat the “effective odometer reading” calculated by the system 110 is asubstantially accurate estimation of the actual total mileage of thevehicle 102 a.

As described previously, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 areceives location information in the form of global positioning system(GPS) signals 108 from at least one GPS satellite 109 to determine thelocation of the vehicle 102 a. For example, the electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a can be equipped with a GPS receiver device thatreceives signals from the GPS satellite 109 so that the electroniconboard recorder unit 106 a can receive coordinate information (e.g.,longitude and latitude coordinates) and time information (e.g., currenttime). In addition, in some embodiments, the electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a can be equipped with one or more accelerometers 203 so as todetect particular types of vehicle movement, such as hard brakes,acceleration, and lane changes. Instances of this type of vehiclemovement can be recorded by the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 acan communicated to the control center 104 (via the mobile communicationdevice 112 a) for purposes of safety monitoring by a fleet manager orother system user. Thus, during operation of the vehicle, someembodiments of the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a can receiveinput information from a combination of the ECM 202 of the vehicle 102a, the GPS system, and the one or more internal accelerometers 203.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 acollects information from the various inputs (e.g., the ECM 202, the GPSsystem, and the one or more accelerometers 203) and stores the vehicleusage information as data in a computer-readable memory module 206. Aspreviously described, in this embodiment, the electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a is displayless and thus has no user interface of itsown with which to let a user view or interact with the vehicle usageinformation. Rather, in this embodiment, the electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a communicates the vehicle usage information from the memorymodule 206 to the mobile communication device 112 a over the Bluetoothconnection 114 a, and the vehicle usage information can be stored in acomputer-readable memory module 116 of the mobile communication device112 a. The mobile communications device 112 a provides a user interface208 with which the user can access some or all the vehicle usageinformation. Examples of user interfaces are discussed in further detailin the descriptions of FIGS. 4A and 4B.

In addition to displaying some or all of the vehicle usage informationon the mobile communication device 112 a, the vehicle usage informationmay also be transmitted to the control center 104 for review andarchiving. For example, in this embodiment, the mobile communicationdevice 112 a can communicate with the transceiver 122 over the cellularlink 120 a so as to wirelessly communicate the vehicle usage informationand other electronic reports, messages, or data to the control center104. As such, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a and the mobilecommunication device 112 a operate as a system 110 a that ispositionable inside the vehicle 102 a and that communicates informationrelated to the vehicle and its driver. Moreover, at least the displayportion (e.g., the mobile communication device 112 a) of the system 110a can be portable relative to the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 aand the vehicle 102 a, thereby permitting the user to view and inputvehicle or driver-related information even when the user is positionedoutside the vehicle. Further, because each mobile communication device112 a-c is portable relative to the vehicles 102 a-c (FIG. 1) and theelectronic onboard recorder units 106 a-c (FIG. 1), each mobilecommunication device 112 a-c can be configured to wirelessly communicatewith any one of the nearby electronic onboard recorder units 106 a-c.For example, if the driver carrying the mobile communication device 112a switches to vehicle 102 b (FIG. 1) for a new workday, the driver'smobile communication device 112 a can be configured to wirelesslycommunicate with the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 b (FIG. 1)mounted inside that vehicle 102 b for the workday.

Referring now to FIG. 3, each of electronic onboard recorder units 106a-c can be equipped with an external data port (e.g., a USB port in thisembodiment) for exporting electronic reports or other data to atemporarily connected external storage device, such as the portablecomputer device 150, the portable storage device 152, or the like. Asdescribed previously, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 aincludes the memory module 206 for the vehicle usage information andother data, and the mobile communication device 112 a can receive thevehicle usage information and generate electronic reports (such as anelectronic record of duty file). In some implementations, the electronicrecord of duty file stored in the memory module 116 of the mobilecommunication device 112 a may be copied to the electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a (e.g., via the wireless link 114 a) for subsequentaccess by a third party such as the vehicle inspector 154. For example,under some jurisdictions law enforcement or regulatory inspectors may beauthorized to request a copy of the data 206 in order to inspect thedriver's record of duty to determine whether the driver is in compliancewith laws that regulate the number of consecutive or cumulative hoursthe driver is permitted to be on duty in a given period. Thus, in somecircumstances, the electronic record of duty file can be generated byand stored in the mobile communication device 112 a, and this electronicreport can be wirelessly communicated to the electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a prior to exporting the electronic record of duty file via theoutput data port 302 of the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a. Insome embodiments in which a copy of the electronic record of duty fileis stored in both the mobile communication device 112 a and theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a, and the copies of these filescan be updated or sync prior to exporting the electronic record of dutyfile via the output data port 302 of the electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a.

In the illustrated example, the vehicle inspector 154 can request that acopy of the data 206 be copied to the inspector's computer device 150 orthe inspector's portable storage device 152. To facilitate communicationbetween the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a and the computerdevice 150 of the portable storage device 152, the computer device 150or the portable storage device 152 can be plugged into the data outputport 302 of the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a. As previouslydescribed, the data output port 302 may be a USB port adapted to accepta USB connector 304 provided by any of the computer device 150 and theportable storage device 152.

Still referring to FIG. 3, in some embodiments, the mobile communicationdevice 112 a can control the transfer of the electronic record of dutyfile or other data from the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a tothe inspector's computer device 150 or the inspector's portable storagedevice 152. For example, the electronic record of duty file or otherdata stored on the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a may beprotected from exporting via the data port 302 until the user providesapproval for the data transfer via the user interface 208 of the mobilecommunication device 112 a. In such circumstances, the data stored onthe electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a may be protected fromunauthorized users, and furthermore, the data files stored on theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a may be updated or synced with thedata files stored on the mobile communication device 112 a prior to anyfile exporting operation via the data port 302. In this embodiment, themobile communication device 112 a presents the user interface 208 thatprompts the user to initiate the file transfer process from theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a to the inspector's computerdevice 150 or the inspector's portable storage device 152. The userinterface 208 of the mobile communication device 112 a can provide, forexample, at least one control button 306 that receives the user inputindicative of a command to initiate the file transfer process. In someimplementations, the user control button 306 can be a physical button, atouchscreen button, a selectable menu item, or any other user controlmechanism on the mobile communication device 112 a. In otherimplementations, the control button 306 can be replacement with an inputto detect a user gesture, a spoken command (e.g., speech recognition),or any other appropriate user action that the mobile communicationdevice 112 a can detect as a user command.

In response to activation of the user control button 306, the system 110a initiates a process in which the electronic record of duty file orother data file is at least partially transferred to the electroniconboard recorder unit 106 a for purposes of storing a copy of the fileat the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a or otherwise updating anolder version of the file stored at the electronic onboard recorder unit106 a. After the current version of the electronic record of duty fileor other data file is stored at both the mobile communication device 112a and the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a, the electronic recordof duty file or other data file can be exported via the data port 302 ofthe electronic record of duty file or other data file. The operation fortransferring the electronic record of duty file or other data file tothe computer device 150 or to the portable storage device 152 can be anautomatic process that requires no further user input on the mobilecommunication device 112 a and the electronic onboard recorder unit 106a. For example, after the initial user input on the control button 306of the user interface 208, the electronic record of duty file or otherdata file will be automatically transferred via the data port 302 upon aproper connection with the computer device 150 or to the portablestorage device 152. As such, the driver or the inspector 154 can plugthe inspector's device 150 or 152 into the communication port 302 eitherbefore or after the driver activates the user control button 306, inwhich case a copy of the electronic record of duty file from theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a is transferred via the data port302 to the inspector's device 150 or 152. When finished, the inspector'sdevice 150 or 152, with the electronic record of duty file or other datafile stored in the memory thereof, can then be disconnected from thecommunications port 302 and used by the vehicle inspector 154.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A-B, the mobile communication device 112 canprovide the user interface for the electronic onboard recorder unit 106(FIGS. 2-3) and can be configured to display a variety of vehicle anddriver-related information in response to wirelessly receiving vehicleusage information from the electronic onboard recorder unit 106. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 4A, the mobile communication device 112 thatpresents an example user interface screen 402 that summarizes the driverduty information for display during operation of the vehicle. In someimplementations, the mobile communication device 112 can be any one ofthe mobile communication devices 112 a-112 c depicted in FIG. 1, and theuser interface screen 402 can be accessed from a menu selection on theuser interface 208 as depicted in FIGS. 2-3.

In this embodiment, the user interface 402 includes a driver namedisplay area 404 which displays the name of the driver or otheridentification information associated with driver. Such driveridentification information can be input into the mobile communicationdevice 112 or selected from a list displayed by the mobile communicationdevice 112, and the driver identification information can be used ingenerating the aforementioned electronic record of duty file.

Still referring to FIG. 4A, a collection of status indicators 406 a-406d provides visual indications of several operational parameters of themobile communication device 112 and/or an associated electronic onboardrecorder unit (e.g., the electronic onboard recorder units 106 a-106 c).For example, the status indicator 406 a can display a visual indicationof whether the mobile communication device 112 is connected to thetransceiver 122 of FIG. 1 by one of the communication links 120 a-120 c.The status indicator 406 b can display a visual indication of whetherthe mobile communication device 112 is connected to its associatedelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a-c by one of the Bluetoothconnections 114 a-114 c. The status indicator 406 c can display a visualindication of whether the mobile communication device 112 is receivingthe GPS signals 108 form the GPS satellites 110. The status indicator406 d can display a visual indication of whether the mobilecommunication device 112 is connected to an associated ECM, such whenthe electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a is connected to the ECM 206of FIG. 2 by the data bus 204.

In some embodiments, a download button 408 is provided by the userinterface 402 to accept user input indicative of a command to initiate atransfer of data from the associated electronic onboard recorder 106(FIG. 3) unit to an external storage device, such as the computer device150 or the portable storage device 152 as described previously discussedin the description of FIG. 3. Accordingly, the download button 408 caninitiate a set of operations in which particular data files stored onthe mobile communication device 112 are copied to the electronic onboardrecorder 106 or otherwise used to update with similar files previouslystored on electronic onboard recorder 106. From there, the one or moredata files can be exported via the data port 302 as previously describedin connection with FIG. 3. As such, the download button 408 may operatesimilarly to the previously described control button 306 (FIG. 3).

In addition, the user interface 402 provides a number of inputs for thedriver to alter his or her duty status, thereby affecting the driver'shours of service and the aforementioned electronic record of duty file.For example, the driver may interact with a user control 410 a toindicate that he or she is in an “off duty” status. The driver caninteract with a user control 410 b to indicate that he or she is in a“sleeper berth” status (e.g., the driver is resting in a sleeper unitassociated with his vehicle). The driver can interact with a usercontrol 410 c to indicate that he or she is operating his vehicle. Thedriver can interact with a user control 410 d to indicate that he or sheis in an “on duty” status even when he or she is not driving the vehicle(e.g., inspecting the vehicle or performing other on-duty tasks). Insome implementations, the user controls 410 a-410 d can change theirvisual appearance to indicate the status currently selected by thedriver. For example, the user control 410 a may be displayed with abrighter color than the user controls 410 b-410 d when the driver is inan “off duty” status.

Still referring to FIG. 4A, the interface 402 of the mobilecommunication device 112 can also display indicators related to thedriver's hours of service. For example, an indicator 412 displays theamount of time the driver has left before he or she is in violation of apredetermined drive time limit. An indicator 414 displays the amount oftime the driver has left before he or she is in violation of apredetermined on duty time limit. An indicator 416 displays theconsecutive amount of time the driver has been off duty.

Furthermore, an indicator 420 displays the amount of drive time thedriver has accrued in a given day, which (in this embodiment) has anupper limit of “11 hours” of total drive time before he or she is inviolation of a predetermined drive time limit. Thus, the time values inindicators 412 and 420 will add up to the maximum drive time limit (“11hours” in this embodiment). When the driver's total drive time inindicator 420 exceeds the upper limit, the indicator may change colors,for example, to a red color to warn the driver of the violation.Optionally, an indicator 422 displays the amount of on-duty time thedriver has accrued in a given day, which (in this embodiment) has anupper limit of “14 hours” of total on-duty time before he or she is inviolation of a predetermined on-duty time limit. Thus, the time valuesin indicators 422 and 414 will add up to the maximum on-duty time limit(“14 hours” in this embodiment). When the driver's total drive time inindicator 422 exceeds the upper limit, the indicator may change colors,for example, to a red color to warn the driver of the violation.Further, an indicator 424 displays the amount of total on-duty time thedriver has accrued in a period of consecutive days (e.g., “8 days” inthis embodiments). For example, the total on-duty time the driver hasaccrued in an eight-day period may have an upper limit of “70 hours” inthis embodiment. When the driver's total drive time in indicator 424exceeds the upper limit, the indicator may change colors, for example,to a red color to warn the driver of the violation.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the mobile communication device 112 can provideanother user interface screen 450 that depicts a summary of the driver'sduty log. In some embodiments, the summary information provided in thisuser interface screen 450 can be employed in the electronic record ofduty file that is generated by the mobile communication device 112 forpurposes of sharing with the aforementioned inspector 154 (FIG. 3). Insome implementations, the user interface screen 450 can be accessed froma menu selection on the user interface 208 as depicted in FIGS. 2-3.

The user interface 450 in this embodiment includes an electronic dutylog in the form of a time chart 452. The chart 452 provides a convenientvisualization of the driver's status (e.g., on duty, off duty, driving,sleeper berth) over a selected period of time. A date indicator area 454displays the date associated with the information presented by the chart452. A time indicator area 456 displays the times associated with theinformation presented by the chart 452. A time interval area 458displays the elapsed time durations associated with the various statusespresented by the chart 452.

A status area 460 displays the driver's current status or the statuspresented by the chart 452. In some implementations, the status area 460can include time information, status information, location information,a remark, and (optionally) the driver's name or other identificationinformation. In some implementations, the remark can be selected from acollection of predefined remarks (e.g., “fueling”, “breakdown”,“loading”, “unloading”). In some implementations, the remark can beentered by the driver. For example, the driver may need to enter aremark that is not described by a predefined remark (e.g., “helping amotorist”).

The driver can interact with a user control 470 to cause the chart 452to display the duty status over a period of one day or otherpredetermined time interval of data on the chart 452. The driver caninteract with a user control 472 to cause the chart 452 to display a onehour or other predetermined time interval of data on the chart 452. Thedriver can interact with a user control 474 to cause the user interface450 to present additional user controls that the driver can use to enterremark information that can be associated with one or more of thedriver's statuses.

Referring now to FIG. 5, some embodiments for a process 500 can beperformed to transferring an electronic report from an electroniconboard recorder unit (such as unit 106 a depicted in FIG. 3) to anexternal computer or storage device (such as the inspector's device 150or 152 depicted in FIG. 3). The process 500 may include an operation 510in which a driver summary electronic report (e.g., an electronic recordof duty file) in memory module of a handheld wireless display unit(e.g., the mobile communication device 112 a depicted in FIG. 3). Forexample, the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a can collect thevehicle usage information over a period of time when a particular driveris using the vehicle 102 a, and the electronic onboard recorder unit 106a can periodically transfer this vehicle usage information to thecorresponding mobile communication device 112 a linked thereto via theBluetooth connection 114 a. The mobile communication device 112 a canaccess the vehicle usage information along with other driver-specificinformation (e.g., driver identification information and the like) so asto generate the electronic record of duty file for storing on the memoryof the mobile communication device 112 a.

The process 500 may also include an operation 520 in which a wirelesscommunication from the handheld wireless display unit (e.g., the mobilecommunication device 112 a in this embodiment) is received to indicatethat the driver summary electronic report (e.g., the electronic recordof duty file in this embodiment) is approved for exporting from theelectronic onboard recorder unit. For example, the driver can activatethe user control button 306 as depicted FIG. 3 so that the mobilecommunication device 112 a can prepare the electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a for exporting the driver summary electronic report (e.g., theelectronic record of duty file in this embodiment).

At operation 530 in the process 500, the driver summary electronicreport is also stored in a memory module of an electronic onboardrecorder unit, which is wirelessly linked to the handheld wirelessdisplay unit. For example, the driver summary electronic report (e.g.,the electronic record of duty file in this embodiment) can be wirelesslycommunicated via the Bluetooth link 114 a from the mobile communicationdevice 112 a to the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a. Thisoperation 530 may be performed in response to operation 520. It shouldbe understood from the description herein that the process 500 can beachieved by performing operation 530 either before or after theoperation 520. If operation 530 is performed before operation 520, thenoperation 520 may cause the mobile communication device 112 a to updatethe driver summary electronic report (e.g., the electronic record ofduty file in this embodiment) stored on the electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a with a more recent version of the file.

At operation 540, the electronic onboard recorder unit removablyreceives a USB connection device at a USB port arranged along thehousing of the electronic onboard recorder unit. For example, aspreviously described in connection with FIG. 3, the electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a can be equipped with a USB port 302 that isconfigured to removably receive the USB connector 304 from aninspector's portable computer 150 or portable storage device 152. Insuch circumstances, the vehicle inspector 154 can conveniently plug theexternal computer device 150 or the portable storage device 152 into theUSB port 302 provided by the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a tofacilitate a transfer of the requested data from the electronic onboardrecorder unit 106 a.

The process 500 may also include operation 550 in which the driversummary electronic report (e.g., the electronic record of duty file inthis embodiment) is automatically transferred to via the USB port of theelectronic onboard recorder unit to a portable external unit. Forexample, in response to the user input at operation 520 and the receiptof the USB connection device at operation 540, the electronic record ofduty file may automatically transferred via the USB port 302 theinspectors device 150 or device 152 without any further user input atthe electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a or its corresponding mobilecommunication device 112 a. As such, the electronic onboard recorderunit 106 a can be configured to output the electronic record of dutyfile directly to a temporarily connected external computer device 150(e.g., a notebook computer) or a portable storage device 152 (e.g., aUSB thumb drive, a portable hard drive) provided by a vehicle inspector154 (e.g., a law enforcement official, a regulatory inspector, or thelike).

The process 500 may optionally include operation 560 in which a signalis automatically received by the electronic onboard recorder unitindicating that the USB connection to the portable external unit isremoved. For example, the USB connection device 304 (FIG. 3) can beremoved from the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a. When a USBdevice (sometimes referred to as a slave) is connected to ordisconnected from a USB host (e.g., the electronic onboard recorder unit106 a in this embodiment), there is a change on these USB data lines. Itis this change that the USB host can use to automatically detect that adevice has been connected or removed.

Referring now to FIG. 6, some embodiments of a process 600 can beperformed to communicate a driver summary electronic report via acellular link established by a handheld wireless display unit (e.g., themobile communication device 112 a depicted in FIG. 3). The process 600may include an operation 610 in which vehicle usage information iswirelessly received at the handheld wireless display unit from anelectronic onboard recorder unit mounted in a vehicle. For example, theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a can collect the vehicle usageinformation over a period of time when a particular driver is using thevehicle 102 a, and the electronic onboard recorder unit 106 a canperiodically transfer this vehicle usage information to thecorresponding mobile communication device 112 a linked thereto via theBluetooth connection 114 a.

In operation 620, a driver summary electronic report (e.g., theelectronic record of duty file in this embodiment) is stored in a memorymodule of a handheld wireless display unit, which is in wirelesscommunication with the electronic onboard recorder unit. For example,the mobile communication device 112 a can access the vehicle usageinformation along with other driver-specific information (e.g., driveridentification information and the like) so as to generate theelectronic record of duty file for storing on the memory of the mobilecommunication device 112 a.

The process may also include operation 630 in which a cellularconnection is established to a network for communication between thehandheld wireless display unit and a control center. For example, themobile communication device 112 a can establish the wireless connection120 a with the transceiver 122, which is in communication with thecontrol center 104 through the base station 124 and the network 130.

In operation step 640, the driver summary electronic report (e.g., theelectronic record of duty file in this embodiment) is transmitted fromhandheld wireless display unit to the control center. For example, theelectronic report and other data related to the driver or vehicle, whichis stored on the mobile communication device 112 a, can be communicationvia the cellular link 120 a to the network 130 and to the control center104 for review and archival purposes. Thus, in some embodiments, theelectronic onboard recorder unit 106 a and the corresponding mobilecommunication device 112 a can each individually operate to output thedriver summary electronic report.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of computing devices 700, 750 that may be usedto implement the systems and methods described in this document, eitheras a client or as a server or plurality of servers. Computing device 700is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such aslaptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers,blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers. Computingdevice 750 is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices,such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones,and other similar computing devices. The components shown here, theirconnections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to beexemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of theinventions described and/or claimed in this document.

Computing device 700 includes a processor 702, memory 704, a storagedevice 706, a high-speed interface 708 connecting to memory 704 andhigh-speed expansion ports 710, and a low speed interface 712 connectingto low speed bus 714 and storage device 706. Each of the components 702,704, 706, 708, 710, and 712, are interconnected using various busses,and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners asappropriate. The processor 702 can process instructions for executionwithin the computing device 700, including instructions stored in thememory 704 or on the storage device 706 to display graphical informationfor a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 716coupled to high speed interface 708. In other implementations, multipleprocessors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along withmultiple memories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices700 may be connected, with each device providing portions of thenecessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers,or a multi-processor system).

The memory 704 stores information within the computing device 700. Inone implementation, the memory 704 is a computer-readable medium. In oneimplementation, the memory 704 is a volatile memory unit or units. Inanother implementation, the memory 704 is a non-volatile memory unit orunits.

The storage device 706 is capable of providing mass storage for thecomputing device 700. In one implementation, the storage device 706 is acomputer-readable medium. In various different implementations, thestorage device 706 may be a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, anoptical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similarsolid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices ina storage area network or other configurations. In one implementation, acomputer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier.The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed,perform one or more methods, such as those described above. Theinformation carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such asthe memory 704, the storage device 706, or memory on processor 702.

The high speed controller 708 manages bandwidth-intensive operations forthe computing device 700, while the low speed controller 712 manageslower bandwidth-intensive operations. Such allocation of duties isexemplary only. In one implementation, the high-speed controller 708 iscoupled to memory 704, display 716 (e.g., through a graphics processoror accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports 710, which may acceptvarious expansion cards (not shown). In the implementation, low-speedcontroller 712 is coupled to storage device 706 and low-speed expansionport 714. The low-speed expansion port, which may include variouscommunication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet)may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard,a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch orrouter, e.g., through a network adapter.

The computing device 700 may be implemented in a number of differentforms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as astandard server 720, or multiple times in a group of such servers. Itmay also be implemented as part of a rack server system 724. Inaddition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptopcomputer 722. Alternatively, components from computing device 700 may becombined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such asdevice 750. Each of such devices may contain one or more of computingdevice 700, 750, and an entire system may be made up of multiplecomputing devices 700, 750 communicating with each other.

Computing device 750 includes a processor 752, memory 764, aninput/output device such as a display 754, a communication interface766, and a transceiver 768, among other components. The device 750 mayalso be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or otherdevice, to provide additional storage. Each of the components 750, 752,764, 754, 766, and 768, are interconnected using various buses, andseveral of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or inother manners as appropriate.

The processor 752 can process instructions for execution within thecomputing device 750, including instructions stored in the memory 764.The processor may also include separate analog and digital processors.The processor may provide, for example, for coordination of the othercomponents of the device 750, such as control of user interfaces,applications run by device 750, and wireless communication by device750.

Processor 752 may communicate with a user through control interface 758and display interface 756 coupled to a display 754. The display 754 maybe, for example, a TFT LCD display or an OLED display, or otherappropriate display technology. The display interface 756 may compriseappropriate circuitry for driving the display 754 to present graphicaland other information to a user. The control interface 758 may receivecommands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor752. In addition, an external interface 762 may be provide incommunication with processor 752, so as to enable near areacommunication of device 750 with other devices. External interface 762may provide, for example, for wired communication (e.g., via a dockingprocedure) or for wireless communication (e.g., via Bluetooth or othersuch technologies).

The memory 764 stores information within the computing device 750. Inone implementation, the memory 764 is a computer-readable medium. In oneimplementation, the memory 764 is a volatile memory unit or units. Inanother implementation, the memory 764 is a non-volatile memory unit orunits. Expansion memory 774 may also be provided and connected to device750 through expansion interface 772, which may include, for example, aSIMM card interface. Such expansion memory 774 may provide extra storagespace for device 750, or may also store applications or otherinformation for device 750. Specifically, expansion memory 774 mayinclude instructions to carry out or supplement the processes describedabove, and may include secure information also. Thus, for example,expansion memory 774 may be provide as a security module for device 750,and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device750.

The memory may include for example, flash memory and/or MRAM memory, asdiscussed below. In one implementation, a computer program product istangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer programproduct contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or moremethods, such as those described above. The information carrier is acomputer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 764, expansionmemory 774, or memory on processor 752.

Device 750 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface766, which may include digital signal processing circuitry wherenecessary. Communication interface 766 may provide for communicationsunder various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, orMMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others.Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequencytransceiver 768. In addition, short-range communication may occur, suchas using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown). Inaddition, GPS receiver module 770 may provide additional wireless datato device 750, which may be used as appropriate by applications runningon device 750.

Device 750 may also communication audibly using audio codec 760, whichmay receive spoken information from a user and convert it to usabledigital information. Audio codex 760 may likewise generate audible soundfor a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 750.Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may includerecorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.) and may alsoinclude sound generated by applications operating on device 750.

The computing device 750 may be implemented in a number of differentforms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as acellular telephone 780. It may also be implemented as part of asmartphone 782, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobiledevice.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here canbe realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry,specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits),computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.These various implementations can include implementation in one or morecomputer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processor, whichmay be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data andinstructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storagesystem, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications or code) include machine instructions for a programmableprocessor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/orobject-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machinelanguage. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium”“computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product,apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory,Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructionsand/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readablemedium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniquesdescribed here can be implemented on a computer having a display device(e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor)for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointingdevice (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provideinput to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide forinteraction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to theuser can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback,auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in acomputing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a dataserver), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an applicationserver), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computerhaving a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a usercan interact with an implementation of the systems and techniquesdescribed here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, orfront end components. The components of the system can be interconnectedby any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., acommunication network). Examples of communication networks include alocal area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and theInternet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

A number of embodiments of the invention have been described.Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, various forms of the flows shown above may be used, with stepsre-ordered, added, or removed. Also, although several applications ofthe payment systems and methods have been described, it should berecognized that numerous other applications are contemplated.Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:detecting, at an electronic onboard recorder that is mounted to avehicle, one or more types of communications protocols employed by anengine control module of the vehicle and automatically adapting to theone or more types of communications protocols employed by the enginecontrol module of the vehicle; receiving, by the electronic onboardrecorder from the engine control module via a cable communicativelycoupling the electronic onboard recorder and the engine control module,vehicle usage information; wirelessly communicating, by a short-rangewireless communication device of the electronic onboard recorder to amobile device, the vehicle usage information when the mobile device ispositioned inside the vehicle or when the mobile device is positionedproximate to the vehicle; wirelessly receiving, by the short-rangewireless communication device from the mobile device, and storing in amemory of the electronic onboard recorder, a copy of hours of serviceinformation for a driver of the vehicle which was generated by themobile device based on at least some of the vehicle usage informationwirelessly communicated to the mobile device; communicatively couplingwith a removably portable storage device via a universal serial bus(USB) port of the electronic onboard recorder; receiving, by theshort-range wireless communication device, from the mobile device, awireless communication indicative of a user request input to the mobiledevice to transfer the copy of the hours of service information; andtransferring, by the electronic onboard recorder to the portable storagedevice via the USB port, the copy of the hours of service informationfor the driver of the vehicle in response to receiving the wirelesscommunication.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the short-rangewireless communication device of the electronic onboard recordercomprises a Bluetooth wireless communication device for communicatingwith the mobile device when the mobile device is positioned inside thevehicle or when the mobile device is positioned proximate to thevehicle.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing, by theelectronic onboard recorder, the vehicle usage information in the memoryof the electronic onboard recorder, wherein at least a portion of thevehicle usage information being indicative of travel distance and time.4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving vehicle usage information atthe electronic onboard recorder from the engine control module comprisessimultaneously receiving vehicle usage information via multipleprotocols of the engine control module.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising: detecting, by one or more accelerometers of theelectronic onboard recorder, movements of the vehicle; and transmitting,by the short-range wireless communication device to the mobile device,the movements of the vehicle.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, by a GPS receiver of the electronic onboardrecorder, one or more location signals from at least one GPS satellite;and transmitting, by the short-range wireless communication device tothe mobile device, the one or more location signals.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: determining, at the electronic onboardrecorder unit, a location of the vehicle; and wirelessly communicating,via the short-range wireless communication device to the mobile device,the location of the vehicle for displaying the location on the mobiledevice.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic onboardrecorder is displayless and having a maximum length of 8 inches, amaximum width of 6.5 inches, and a maximum height of 1.5 inches.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the communicatively coupling with theremovably portable storage device via the USB port of the electroniconboard recorder comprises communicatively coupling with a USB cablecoupled with a portable computer.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein thecommunicatively coupling with the removably portable storage device viathe USB port of the electronic onboard recorder comprisescommunicatively coupling with a USB thumb drive or a USB-equippedportable hard drive.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprisingcommunicatively coupling the cable with a connector of the electroniconboard recorder.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the copy of thehours of service information includes identification information for thedriver and hours of service information for the driver.
 13. The methodof claim 1, wherein the copy of the hours of service informationincludes at least off duty status, on duty status and driving status forthe driver.